Chapter 48

Ganondorf was sitting in his castle grumbling to himself. He was furious. He had visited Death Mountain and realized that Volvagia had been defeated! It took a lot of dark magic to resurrect the scaly fiend and now, he was nothing but bones once more. He cursed angrily. He was planning on ridding Hyrule of the gorons once and for all and now this. Suddenly, a cloud of purple energy formed in front of him and when it cleared, Veran was standing before him. He grunted in approval.

"Veran, you're back! I hope you're here to give me some good news today."

Veran smiled and nodded.

"Indeed, I do, my lord. The one you called Vaati is no more. I killed the fool in front of the fools of the Hyrule Resistance."

Ganondorf laughed triumphantly.

"Yes! At last, some good news for a change. Was that fool Link there? He's a tall kid with blonde hair and green clothes."

Veran waved her arm.

"Enough of the description. I know who you're referring to. That fool shot a fireball at me and Vaati dove in front of a massive shadow ball I threw to save Link."

Ganondorf grinned. So far, this creation was proving to be a success. She had managed to not only take out that fool Vaati, but she also showed the resistance that their foolish barrier wasn't all powerful after all. He cocked his head to one side.

"So, how did the infiltration go? How did you get into that village undetected?"

Veran explained how she impersonated Impa and made herself impervious to their barrier and what led up to Vaati's death. Ganondorf was taken aback. She was a truly cruel creation.

"Well done. It's a shame you couldn't have maintained your disguise for longer. I'm glad you arrived to tell me this. I've been in a foul mood since I found out that the dragon I resurrected was slain. Link and his friends are going to regret interfering with my plans."

Veran spoke up.

"This is only a setback, my lord. Let's pay a visit to that cursed village and wipe out the resistance."

Ganondorf put a hand on her shoulder.

"Patience, my pupil. They will pay dearly for defying me and destroying my creations. We will bide our time and strike when they least expect it!"

Link was sitting in one of the rooms of the resistance headquarters. He felt utterly defeated. He had just lost one of the reasons for continuing his adventure. When Max turned evil, it gave him the drive to keep going. He was eager to get his friend back to normal and continue his quest to stop Ganondorf. But now that he was dead, he felt almost like part of him died too. He sat on the edge of a bed, his hands over his face while he cried silently.

Meanwhile, Charlie, Brad and the three fairies Navi, Izzy and Valerie were resting in the main room of the resistance building. Around them, there were a few tables to sit at. The other resistance members sat beside them. Brad sighed aloud.

"How is Link doing? I haven't seen him much since his friend Max was killed."

Charlie shushed him gently as he whispered to him.

"Keep your voice down, Brad. He's just in the other room. You're right though. He hasn't said much since that happened. Max was his best friend before the bizarre events took place seven years ago. He was probably certain that he had lost me as well at one point. He's gone through a lot since he got here. All three of us have. It must've been very hard losing a friend he was so close to."

Argus rose from his seat, as did the rest of the members. He gave Charlie a grim look.

"Well, it sounds like you and Link have been through a lot since arriving here, brother. I would try and confront Link and make him feel better. In the meantime, we need to figure out where that imposter took Impa."

Suddenly, a guard walked in from outside and looked at he resistance, fear in his eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt, but there is some odd moaning coming from the gate leading out to the fields of Hyrule."

Viscen walked up to the guard, noticing the fear he showed.

"Okay, lad. You've got to tell us why you look like you've seen a ghost. What did you find?"

The guard gulped nervously.

"That's the thing. I couldn't find anything, but I could hear faint moaning coming from one of the trees on the other side of the gate. I quickly ran to it and heard the moaning clearer, but there was still nobody in sight. There's a ghost outside the gate, sir!"

Viscen scoffed.

"Nonsense. Take me to this ghost and we'll figure out the truth of the matter."

Charlie and his friends gathered around Viscen.

"Can we come with you? We need to clear our heads after what happened to Link."

Viscen cocked his head to one side.

"Well, the more the merrier, but what about Link? Shouldn't you talk to him and see how he's doing?"

Navi shook her head sadly.

"I tried talking to him a few hours ago and he told me to leave him alone. I think he needs time to process what happened."

Viscen nooded.

"That's understandable. I went through something quite similar when we lost the castle town seven years ago. I saw a lot of my men fall. They were all good people and didn't deserve to die like they did. I went into hiding here in Kakariko and before I knew it, others joined me as well. I didn't see Impa for at least a year after that. The kind villagers here took me in and tended to any wounds I had. Afterwards, they helped me come to peace with that happened. My feeling for revenge however didn't go away so easily and when Impa showed up at the village, we got together and formed the Hyrule Resisance."

Viscen looked at the gloomy faces around him.

"Sorry, lads. Wasn't trying to bring the mood down. Let's go investigate that moaning."

Link was still feeling depressed. He didn't know what to do anymore. He barely felt like leaving the room he was in, let alone continue his quest. Max's death had hit him harder than he thought it would. He stomped his foot down hard, fresh tears in his eyes. Why did he have to die? He should've done something more to stop Veran. It all happened so fast. If only his fireball was stronger. He sighed deeply and lifted himself onto the bed and decided to take a nap and sleep off all the stress from the day.

Link opened his eyes and gasped. He was floating in mid air! Just like the time when…Princess Zelda talked to him. He looked around but didn't see anybody else with him.

Suddenly, a male voice called out to him.

"Link! Why have you given up? There is still a world to save!"

Link was puzzled. Who was speaking to him? He looked around once more and once again, there was nobody around. He called out into the white void.

"Who's there? Who is speaking to me?"

Suddenly, Max appeared in front of him. He didn't have the black armor on, and he looked more like the kid he grew up with. Link cried in delight.

"Max! You're alive? This is awesome!"

Max held up his hand.

"No, Link. I am now a spirit. I am no longer in the land of the living. Now, why are you giving up on everything because I died?"

Link stammered a reply.

"W-well I-I kept going because I wanted to save you. Saving the world was only part of my quest. Knowing you're dead, I'm not sure I can continue with this quest."

Max shook his head in disappointment.

"Don't talk like that. A lot of people are counting on you. You're the only one that can stop Ganondorf and his minions. You're breaking the promise you made to me."

Link sputtered.

"P-promise? You mean to stop Ganondorf? I'm not breaking my-"

Max snapped back and interrupted Link.

"Then what do you call it? Here you are, ready to give up on everything. Why did you lie to me?"

Link put his hands up to his face.

"I-I don't know! I don't know what to do. My mind is a mess! Why am I here? Why am I doing all of this? Do I enjoy seeing my friends turn against me?"

Max snorted.

"What's wrong, Tom? I thought you liked playing as link. I thought you liked being the hero."

Link blinked. He hadn't been called Tom since all of this started. He glared at Max.

"I never asked for any of this! I enjoyed being the hero when this world was nothing more than a game! This is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me, or to us for that matter. I even started calling myself Link after Navi first addressed me as such. I figured calling myself Tom would confuse everybody, so I started calling myself Link and answering as such."

Max nodded.

"Yes, and it didn't take long for you to take up the role, did it? Being the hero was all fun and games at first, I'm sure. Now, when things start to get too real, you throw in the towel? People die all the time, Tom. As the hero of this adventure, it's going to happen eventually, whether you like it or not. I'm sure you noticed, but this is turning out a lot different than the game you used to know, isn't it?"

Link nodded as he wiped his eyes.

"You're right. It's been quite the crazy adventure so far. I never know what's going to happen next."

Link gasped. He knew where Max was going with this. Max nodded.

"I agree. It has been. Are you going to let all of that end here just because I died from one of your enemies?"

Link shook his head.

"No, you're right. I can't let them away with this. I need to get over this quickly."

Max smiled broadly.

That's great to hear, Tom. Now, wake up as Link once more and kill evil in my stead. Don't give them any quarter. Be the hero Hyrule needs."

Link wiped his eyes as he looked at the ghostly visage of his friend.

"Thank you, Max. Thanks for opening my eyes. Will I ever see you again?"

Max shrugged.

"It's possible. Don't worry about that right now, Tom. Awaken as Link and continue your adventure!"

Link nodded as Max and the void around him began to clear. When he opened his eyes, he found himself back in the resistance building, still in one of the beds. He shook his head. What did he just witness? Was it a dream or a vision? It felt so real. He remembered how much Max scolded him and got out of the bed and picked up the Master Sword and his Hylian Shield and put them on his back once more. He poked his head out of the room and realized there was nobody in the building. He figured everyone was helping with patrols after the attack, so he went back in the room and sat on the bed, still reflecting on his experience of talking to his dear friend Max.